Beautiful Mistake
by TheWinterCyan
Summary: [AU] The Midnight Prince, Uchiha Sasuke was forced by his brother to 'enjoy the night', only to find himself in a drunken state. Little did he know that things took an abrupt turn the moment he saved a blond man in a dark alley. (SasuNaru) MPreg
1. The Night

**Okay, so…this is my first fanfiction of SasuNaru pairing. All I can say for this fic is…cliché, maybe. I don't know. But I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing this. **

**Warning: AU-Demons, slight OOC-ness, smut**

**Disclaimer: Damn…I'll turn Naruto into superbly smexy anime series of yaoi if I own it. Unfortunately, I don't.**

"Talking"

'Speaking to oneself'

_Flashback or dreaming_

**Cyan: Okaaaaaay, ready for the first chapter, or we can kill the time knowing each other?**

**Tama: Sis, really. No one is interested in you.**

CHAPTER ONE: THE NIGHT

A door was slammed so hard that the sound echoed throughout the palace. The Prince, Uchiha Sasuke, stormed down the hall with a scowl evident on his face. Fists clenched, he glared back at the person that came out from the room that he was in a moment ago. He gritted his teeth, cursing under his breath. Why wouldn't Itachi just leave him alone?! The moment he wanted to enjoy his goddamn peaceful morning was ruined by this one brother who had the nerve to piss him off.

"Little brother, please. It's not a bad idea." The Lord, Uchiha Itachi spoke. It was obvious that the man was amused by the whole situation. He indeed had this weird kink of putting Sasuke in endless misery. The sadistic bastard.

"I refuse, Itachi!" Sasuke growled as he gave his brother a deadly glare. Although, as usual, Itachi just smirked which ticked Sasuke off even more.

"Sasuke, all I ever ask is for you to enjoy yourself tonight."

"No."

"To the club, little brother. Not a brothel."

"No."

"Come on, it's your birthday."

Sasuke only increased his pace. He seriously needed Itachi to fuck off – not that he could actually say that, which by all means, he wanted to – and leave him be. Was that too much to ask? Perhaps he should throw tantrums or bitching out. But hell, he was an Uchiha. Uchiha forbid such attitude. "My birthday has nothing to do with me making an ass out of myself in a goddamn club!"

Sometimes, he could not figure out what was in Itachi's mind. Come to think of it, no one could. But that was not actually the point. Why in the world royals like him, the prince of Storm Landwould make himself look like nothing but a drunken idiot in such a place? Even Itachi himself never did things like that since he was always busy with charity events, meetings between the Lords, visiting the other Lands and all of the Lord's crappy duties.

Maybe Itachi just wanted him to have his fun and let loose for a while. But as frequent as Sasuke had assured his brother, he did not need that. He was fine as he was. He preferred to be left alone in his room or anywhere in the palace that provided him peace. He wanted to savor his alone time before he mated. Mated. Yes. That word sent frightful shiver down his spine.

Demons have to mate. But Sasuke, let's just say he hated the idea of mating. When demons mated, their prior purpose was having heirs to expand their clan. Demons mated out of animalistic lust and not pure affection. Sasuke snorted. Pure affection. Since when did he say such a thing? Truth to be told, he envied his parents. They were the closest example of mating out of love. They showed affection to each other which could be clearly seen in their eyes.

But that was long ago before they died.

Itachi took over the throne when he was 18 years old. He ruled the land at such a young age and it was better than their Father once did. He was a great Lord, a perfect brother and was the total opposite of Sasuke.

Really, he was just being melodramatic. But he was not the one to be blame when he had God-like person as his brother.

"Hn. I guess you prefer me throwing a grand ball tonight instead. Oh, and of course, we'll be searching for your soon-to-be-mate. I bet Sakura is interested." Itachi said and he chuckled at the end of his sentence with such a voice that could make flowers wilt and healthy people went to their edge of death in a blink of an eye. "Don't you think, little brother?"

Sasuke's vein popped and immediately halted. His eyes twitched in annoyance, anger and everything in between. He loathed balls, parties or any social gathering. Uchiha Sasuke and social just would not and would never get along and mentioning the name of Haruno Sakura made it even worse. She was like a leech; a very big and stubborn leech that sucked on every drop of Sasuke's life source and replaced it with her affection. Sasuke was dying from the inside because of her. He surely wanted to live longer hence, making her existence as one of his sole reasons as to why he made himself scarce when it came to socializing.

"Fine. I'll go." The prince half grunted, half mumbled.

Itachi smirked. "To the ball?"

Sasuke turned around and glared daggers at his annoying brother. "No."

"Really, little brother. You need to be more specific."

How he wished he could wipe the widening smirk on his brother's face. He could just feel Itachi's sarcasm poking his very soul. "I'll go to the damn club!" At last, Sasuke said, well, hissing between his gritted teeth to be more precise.

"I'm glad you see it my way, little brother." Itachi smirked. "I'm off to Land of Fire and will be back in two weeks."

"Why?"

"Missing me already?"

"Don't push your luck, Itachi." Sasuke growled.

"Just political business and have you heard the rumor that their Prince was kidnapped?"

"No." Really, Sasuke was not into gossips or politics or anything that would end up messing with his brain. However he did know was that the Land of Fire was partner with his Land – Itachi's Land actually – and the Lord was Father's best friend. But no one ever saw the now missing prince. Only the palace knew the prince's existence and they leaked no further information.

"You better get out from your nest, little brother. Lee will be waiting for you at the club." Itachi chuckled as he swiftly walked away, leaving Sasuke growling to his heart's content.

He was wearing dark gray leather pants that hugged his legs, leather boots up to his knees and a black tunic with silver and gold embroidery with a pair of black fingerless leather gloves; perfectly radiated his 'Midnight Prince' persona that he was famous of. He grabbed his dark silver coat and dashed out from his room, ignoring the ogling eyes of the maids and butlers of the palace. Sasuke emitted a very dark and heavy aura. He was obviously pissed off. Itachi did not give him the chance to sneak free. That bastard of a brother even had Lee waiting for him.

The moment he stepped out from the threshold, his personal bodyguard approached him. "Sasu-chan. Ready for your best night in your life?"

Sasuke bared his teeth at the other man as he growled. This man, his personal bodyguard and the only person he could handle being around aside from his brother and his childhood friend. Hatake Kakashi; a very weird person. He was just, weirder than Itachi in some kind of a weird, abnormal level. One eye bared and all his features were covered under a mask with a silver-white hair.

"Shut up, Kakashi."

"The ride is ready for you."

"No. I want to walk." The prince said. He just felt like breathing fresh air before giving up his soul to whatever it was there in the club.

"Ma, Sasu-chan is a grown up man. Papa is so proud." Kakashi snickered.

"Just go and fuck yourself, Kakashi."

Sasuke strolled down the street with his hands in the pockets of his coat. The night air was chilly and the sky was deserted. No stars, no moon. He shrugged it off. It did not matter anyway. He just wanted to end this goddamn night as soon as possible or Itachi would have his head. The prince stopped and gazed up to the building in front of him; Kurai Akuma. A very well-known club.

"Prince Sasuke! Such a youthful appearance from you!"

Sasuke winced. That voice was no other than Lee's. The prince looked at the approaching figure and nodded curtly. "Lee."

"Youthful Lord Itachi sent me for you! He said you're not to be trusted!" Lee laughed as he patted on Sasuke's shoulder.

'Typical Itachi.' Sasuke grunted lowly.

"Go on in, Prince Sasuke. I'm in no way of delaying your youthful night!"

With that, Sasuke once again nodded and stepped into the club. Loud music intruded his hearing, the smell of alcohol was breathed in and there were too many people like sardine in the tin. The prince scowled. Glances were thrown over him and he knew well they were particularly hungry of him just by looking how they actually drool and started to undress him with their eyes. Sasuke held up his guard; cold and dark aura to keep those 'pests' away from him. He made his way to the counter bar and took his seat on an empty stool.

The bartender slid a glass of drink. Sasuke eyed it suspiciously and arched an eyebrow at the other man.

"The only drink available for you, Sasuke-sama. Lord Itachi's strict order."

Sasuke snorted. 'Of course. That possessive bastard.' But he said nothing more and drank up the liquor. His eyes darted from the glass in his hand then to the smiling bartender before finally stopped at the dancing people. They looked nothing more like retarded monkeys. The music was too loud to his liking. The people were talking, screaming, shouting and anything that concluded to speaking loudly to the point that his eardrums might dysfunction.

"Never seen you out here before, Sasuke-sama." The earlier bartender started a conversation.

The prince tear his eyes away from the dance floor and looked at the man behind the counter, glancing on the name tag pinned on his fitter vest; Haku. For a moment, Sasuke had mistaken him for a woman. His features were too feminine for a man.

"Hn. Give me another shot."

Sasuke pushed the door open and stepped out from the suffocating and noisy zone. Dizziness attacked him and his eyes could barely focus on anything. Maybe he indulged himself way too much. He was never the person who fond of liquor and Itachi would always make fun of him for his low alcohol-resistance.

"Prince Sasuke!"

Lee called out for him. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, trying to focus his vision on the blur moving image in front of him. He recognized the voice but somehow his brain would not cooperate with his limbs to make any movements or some sorts aside from leaning his body against the wall.

"Prince Sasuke! Such youthful night you had! Your ride is ready for you, my youthful prince!"

Sasuke looked at the awaiting carriage, and then he shook his head. "No. I want to walk. Make myself sober." He was actually proud of himself for spilling coherent words out from his lips although his current state normally could not do much. 'Take that, Itachi.'

Lee's eyes were wide when he heard Sasuke's reply as if it was the most sinful thing in the world to say. "Oh, no my youthful prince! Lord Itachi would kill the youthful us if you get into trouble."

The raven rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine." He said and started to walk away to the other direction. He needed fresh air and long walk to regain his composure and sane mind. The sky above him clearly indicated that it was really, really late. Not that he minded it but the idea of him staying out from the palace at the hour was bizarre. Fun, was the word Itachi would usually put in this moment. Fun. Smile. Laugh. All similar things, to Sasuke, were inappropriate. He needed no fun. He needed no smile. He needed no laugh. What was the point? He would not gain anything but only waste of time.

He had changed, he noticed. After his parents' death, Sasuke was more likely locking himself up in his room. He barely talked. Smiling was scarce for him now. He knew that and he knew Itachi hated him being that way. He knew Itachi tried to pull his old self back and he thanked his brother for that. But, something just could not be changed anymore. With Itachi was now the Lord. He had lesser time spent for Sasuke. How much the prince hated to admit this, but, he was lonely. He longed to feel.

'I'm 21 damn it!' He hissed inwardly.

Sasuke breathed in the air, feeling the cool breeze brushing on his porcelain skin, moving through his silky pitch hair. It was quiet and peaceful. Just how he liked it and it was even better when he felt his dizziness started to wear off, but he was still far from sober. He kept on walking, taking in the deserted area he was in.

And it was the moment where a faint scream was heard.

"Get off me! Stop it!"

Sasuke came into a halt. Although his vision was somewhat still blur, his hearing was sharp enough to catch the noise.

"No! Sto—ah! No!

Curiosity ravaged the prince. He followed where the scream came from, frowning when the scream sounded more real and nearer. A male. Pain. Two conclusions came up in the raven's head and he had no idea what possessed him, he started to run and turned right to a dark alley.

What feasted upon his eyes was an image of a very erotic display of raping. There were three men circling a smaller male. It was quite dim so Sasuke could not take in the victim's features. The tallest and bulkiest man was pinning the victim up against the wall and was dry-humping the smaller man. The other two laughed and roamed their hands on the lithe body and ripping off the victim's clothes. One of the attackers leaned in and bit down the victim's shoulder. A cry of pain was pulled from the attacked male.

Sasuke wanted to walk away. This was none of his affair. Raping in an alley was too normal for him to get involved. That was what his rational mind said. But his body declined that. Instead, he clenched his fists and thunder erupted around his knuckles, drawing the attackers' attention to him. The victim took it as an opportunity to set himself free by pushing the man that was pinning him and bit his arm hard.

"Fuck you!" The man roared and he took a knife from the back pocket of his pants and stabbed the victim in the torso while the other two men had their feet surrounded by gray chakra and started to kick the other male mercilessly.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he drew both of his hand outward and convulsed them with his lightning. The three men's body quaked wildly as the smell of burnt flesh started to spread in the air. The prince stepped closer and drew his hands back to him, letting the three burnt figures fell on the ground motionlessly. He glared at the tallest one in disgust and stomped his feet on the head and crushed the skull beneath his leather boot, and then walked over the panting victim.

Only then, Sasuke realized that the pitiful victim was blonde. His hair was so bright that it could be seen despite the poorly lit area. He reached his hand forward to hold the other male's cheek. He did not know what was happening to him but he let himself drown into the urge to look directly at the male's face. Sasuke tilted the victim's face upward, noticing that he was trembling and flinching to his touch.

"Are you okay?" It was unusual of Sasuke to ask if other was okay. But he just did. The words just rolled out from his lips. His hand swiftly pressed on the bleeding slash on the exposed skin.

"Nhn…" The blond mumbled painfully.

Only then, he started to flutter his eyes open weakly and caught the prince's breath. His azure eyes bore into Sasuke's bottomless black. The blond's eyes were as bright as his hair but deep at the same time. Sasuke froze at the spot, for once in his life, he was lost. Lost in the deep depth of blue.

"T-Thank you." The other's voice echoed in Sasuke's mind like the holy bells, chiming. The blond's voice triggered something unfamiliar in the prince. Before Sasuke could react to the other's gratitude, the victim fell into Sasuke's arms.

The prince panicked. He was panicking for the first time. He could not think straight and he was damned sure he was sober. He supposed to be able to think! However, the other's body pressed fully on Sasuke, almost bare if he may add. The heat slowly radiated into the prince and his chest tightened and mind went dizzy. For some reason, the blond smelt extremely good, extremely inviting, extremely…alluring. The scent was driving Sasuke crazy, literally.

This must because of the liquor.

**TBC**

**Okaaaay! That's the wrap! How's my first chapter? Please go easy on me! I promise I'll improve in the next chapter!**

**Cyan: Please review, guys!**

**Tama: Thanks for reading!**


	2. Confusion

**Hello guys! Cyan-sama is back for the next chapter! I was so eager to update this second chappie so, yeah, as usual, I do hope my dear lovable readers will enjoy this and leave me many REVIEWS. ENJOY Y'ALL!**

**Warning: AU-Demons, slight OOC-ness, smut, Mpreg, Yaoi**

**Disclaimer: Can I bribe Masashi Kishimoto-sensei for the characters? Especially Sasuke and Naruto. Oh, Itachi too. Hm..Sasori, Deidara…the list goes on. Meh, I own nothing!**

"Talking"

'Speaking to oneself'

_Flashback or dreaming_

SPECIAL THANKS TO : **Melyway**, **Kunoichi of the Moonlit Night (**Well, life is always cruel. Sasuke and Naruto need to work hard for each other's sake, no? XD**)**, **shia naru**, **crzyanimemom**, **SilverHunter**, **Shadeofblue (**Thank you! Your questions will be answered bit by bit in later chapters. Make sure you're ready for a few surprises. *winks***)**

**Cyan: Aw man. I'm not very sure about this chapter. I mean, it's like…**

**Tama: Can you shut it? Ignore her, guys. *pulls Cyan away***

CHAPTER TWO: CONFUSION

_He ran, letting his feet drag him wherever they wanted. His breath was shallow, rapid to the point that his chest was burning. Stream of tears stained his dirtied cheeks. 'Where is this?' he could barely see anything. It was dark but still bright enough for him to see the trail he was running on. He touched his face with his cold fingers. 'Why am I crying?' He looked back only to see blurred vision of a forest. His heart raced, faster than it already was and he increased his pace. Why was he running? From what? From who?_

"_Naruto."_

_He halted, dug his heels on the ground. A splash noise reached his ears, finally realized that he was bare-footed when he felt warm, thick liquid up to his ankles. He looked down and his eyes widened, pupils contracted. Shocked. Terrified. His gaze glued; deep crimson liquid swallowed his feet. Blood. The smell of it was horrible like thousands of rotten lifeless bodies in a compact room he could only slightly breathe. His hands started to tremble and his body slowly went numb when he felt something was crawling up to his thigh; clenching his limb so tightly, oozing blood from his flesh to join the red pool beneath. He winced in pain, gritting his teeth to prevent himself from screaming._

"_Naruto."_

_Hesitantly, he trailed his eyes toward the thing that was hurting his thigh and his breath hitched. It was an arm; a severely bruised and bleeding arm. _

_It was at the exact moment when he felt someone licked his nape, blowing shivering air at his ear afterward. He froze, and then turned around abruptly. No one. It was dark. Darker than before and he could no longer feel the pool of blood around his feet and the painful grip on his thigh. Everything was black. _

"_Naruto." The same but foreign voice called out._

_Then he felt someone hugged him from behind. He tried to break free but was futile. The pressure from the gesture was bone-cracking and pushed out the air from his lungs, suffocating him. _

"_Run, my Naruto. Let me hunt you." The voice whispered in his ear before releasing him from the iron embrace. He stumbled forward but made no attempt to wait much longer and ran as fast as he could instead. No second thought. No turning back. He had to run. He needed to get away. He must escape._

_The voice chuckled darkly. "I'm the Lord. I'll get what I want. You can't run away forever."_

_He winced slightly as he was out of breath and his energy drained to keep himself moving for the non-stop escapade that felt like long days of failure. His pace started to slow down, knees buckled and he let them met the ground with a defeated gasp. He panted hard, wheezing when his lungs begged for air._

"_Naruto. You're mine."_

_It was then he felt a long, deep slash cut opened his back. The unbearable pain shot through his senses. He screamed in agony, arching his back and tears rolled down. His hands were on the ground, firmly supporting his weight as he still did not want to give up. His whole figure was shaking and he muffled his sob. His vision started to blur, noting that his own fresh blood started to stain the ground. Out of nowhere, two hands gripped his shoulders, preventing him from falling on the ground. One hand crawled over his face, tracing the sharp-clawed fingers roughly on his skin and travelled from there and down to his neck. His pulse quickened and he groaned, trying his best to swallow the pain._

"_Found you." The voice whispered._

_Then his throat was slit._

The blond gasped for air and he abruptly sat up, eyes wildly wandered around. His head was throbbing painfully and he shivered slightly when the cool air embraced his body. He brought his hands in front of his face, observing his palms. He groaned lowly as he massaged the bridge of his nose in order to lessen the headache he was having. He looked around, realizing that he was in a freaking spacious unknown bedroom.

'Where the hell is this?'

He scowled and he tried to remember what had happened. Why was he here? The blond looked down and his eyes bulged; he was naked. Immediately, he slipped his hands under the duvet and sighed in relief when he felt his lower region was covered by a pair of pants. Okay, so he was half-naked. But still, it could not be good, could it?

He turned his head to his left when he noticed a human-sized bulge beneath the duvet at the other side of the king-sized bed. This time, he paled. He was in a room, half-naked, with a half-naked man that he did not even remember knowing.

'No way. This – I must be dreaming.' He assured himself. There was no way he would be doing it – whatever it was – with a stranger. He slapped his own face, harder than he should and winced. It hurt. A lot. He could not be dreaming. 'Maybe I'm hallucinating?'

He gulped and slowly shifted his hand, touching the other man's bare chest hesitantly. Feeling already confident and sure that the other was still fast asleep like a log, he pressed his palm onto the pale chest, spreading his fingers and blushed slightly when he subconsciously liking the feel of the other's skin against his touch. It was too real to be a hallucination.

The blond got on all four and slowly crawled closer to the sleeping male when curiosity maimed him. He sat on his legs, knees made contact with the other's arm. He blinked his eyes and stared at the male, obviously astonished by his look; black haired and marble-white skin. His hand moved from the raven's chest to the pale cheek. The opposite contrast of his skin and the other's was apparent. Tanned and silky white. He rubbed the male's cheekbone in a circular motion with his thumb, gently as he leaned in to have a closer view of the face. The raven was insanely handsome. His nose was perfectly structured to faultlessness. The lips were thin and invitingly soft. The blond was captivated.

His eyes then were caught by the sight of a mark at the junction of the other's neck and shoulder; three swirls of comas encircled by uncommon symbols. He poked the mark softly, and touched it with his index finger then trailed the outer layer of the mark, barely noticed the slight surprise jolt from the raven.

"Molesting people in their sleep, hn?"

Instantly, the blond jumped back to the other side of the bed, clutching the duvet up to his chest with a beet red face. His heart pounded so hard that he felt like his chest would explode. He wanted to retort what had been said by the other but found himself stammering incoherent words instead.

The raven opened his eyes and looked at the blushing male. Eyes met eyes, and the blond seemed to immediately stop chattering nonsense and stared back at him. He forced himself to pull away from the weird attraction of those bright blue eyes. Sitting up, he let the duvet pooled around his lap, exposing his bare upper region even more.

"W-Where am I?" The blond's voice reached his ears.

He pushed the duvet off from his figure and stepped out of his bed. He could feel the other's stare on his back and could not help himself from smirking smugly. "Land of Storm." He replied simply.

The blond's jaw dropped. How in the world did he end up here? Who was this guy? Why were they in the same bed? Questions over questions attacked his brain but no answer that he could come up with. He averted his eyes from the raven's broad shoulders and slipped his gaze downward and bit his lower lip to sustain his surprised gasp when he saw that the other was just wearing his black boxers on.

" – name?"

He blinked in confusion. Damn, he must be lost too deep into his thoughts. "What?"

The raven turned around and he leaned against the wall, keeping his gaze glued on the blond. "Your name." He said.

"N-Naruto."

"Naruto what?"

"I…I don't know."

Elegant black eyebrows furrowed. "Where are you from?"

"I don't know." This time, the blond answered less hesitantly. He did not know. How could he not know? He started to panic. What had happened to him? He tried and tried to remember any other possible damn thing about himself. He found none.

"Why were you in the Shinda District?"

"W-what? I…I don't know, okay?! I don't fucking remember!" He was scared. His head was throbbing and his hands started to shake.

Seeing Naruto's panicked condition, the raven walked around the bed and placed his hand on the blond's shoulder, making him jumped. "Relax. What do you remember?"

Naruto calmed down a bit when he felt the other's warmth seeped into him from the simple touch. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to gain the slightest shred of memory in his head. "I uh – I was running." Running. His eyes widened and in an instant, his one hand reached his back and the other hand touched his throat. He frowned. Was that just a dream? He hesitantly placed his hands on his lap, fondling the duvet nervously and he continued. "T-Then there were these guys…they w-were trying to r-rape me and someone saved –" He gasped. Someone saved him. He turned and looked straight into the other's eyes, remembering. "You saved me!"

"Hn."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Five days." The raven answered.

The blond gaped. "That long?! Holy shit." He started to mumble things like 'No wonder he was hungry' and 'How could it be possible'. But, he snapped out of it when the raven started to walk away toward a door which he quickly assumed as the bathing room. "Hey, what's your name?"

The raven stopped himself from twisting the door knob when the question was thrown to him. He smirked before answering. "Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke."

BM-BM-BM

A knock landed on the wooden door, pulling Sasuke's attention from the scroll he was reading. "Come in." He said without looking at who it was that interrupted him.

"How's he?"

Sasuke sighed softly and he placed the scroll in his hand onto the table then stood up, turning toward the asking person. Onyx eyes collided with pale eyes. Hyuuga Neji; his childhood friend and the next heir of the throne of the Land of Water, an excellent fighter and was the one that he called to examine Naruto. "As you predicted."

Neji closed the door behind him and folded his arms over his chest. He was shocked when Sasuke had personally wanted him to come over the palace four days ago. The youngest Uchiha said there was someone that 'supposed to be dead' but was healing instead. Luckily he was in this Land for the week to accompany his cousin for whatever she wanted to do. Of course, he was interested on that matter since Sasuke was not the person who gave a damn on useless things. "He completely lost his memory?" He indeed had predicted that just by looking how badly injured the blond was and the hit on his head was bad.

"Almost. He only remembered running away, getting raped and saved." Sasuke shrugged. "The bruises on his feet showed that he was running for days in a very long distance without stopping before they were completely healed." When he brought Naruto into his palace, the blond's condition was beyond healed. He was dying. Bruises and deep cuts were all over his body, not only from the newest attacks he was saved from, but also previous ones which Sasuke was questioning where they came from and who did that to him.

"And he said he was running. From who?"

"His abuser."

Neji cocked an eyebrow. "Abuser?"

Sasuke simply nodded. Now that Naruto had no memory of who exactly he was and where he came from, it made things more complicated. "He was abused from his body state when I first saw him."

"Where did you say you found him, again?"

"Shinda District."

The pale-eyed man stayed silent for a moment, somehow thinking over the answer that the other gave him. Shinda District was famous of thugs, prostitutes and assassins. To think that such a person as Naruto to be in that place was highly dubious. "Don't you think it's weird, Sasuke? What if he's actually a paid assassin to have your head?"

"No. He isn't."

"Poor judgment has fatal effect on you. He can't be trusted! Shinda District. If he isn't from this Land, he must been paid from another Land to kill you. This conclusion is very acceptable since Shinda District is the border between this Land and the Toreiru Forest." Toreiru Forest was the only way to enter the Land of Storm from other Lands and Neji had to make Sasuke to realize how dangerous his life was if he put his guards down around Naruto.

Sasuke looked out to the window, dissolving in the words from Neji. "Hn." Part of him wanted to believe that but his other part just kept on remembering how innocent and lost the blond was. His azure eyes and his quivering lips. His trembling body and clueless smile.

Neji sighed. "Fine. But, I want to prove something for myself. Just to make sure."

BM-BM-BM

Naruto wandered outside of the palace, silently wondering where he was. He wanted to find Sasuke after he left him without notice or direction or whatever it was to prevent him from being lost in this huge place. The blond grumbled his curses. He felt so out of place. Then he remembered the garden that he saw from the window in the bedroom earlier. 'Where is it?'

"Ma, are you lost?"

He abruptly turned around. There was a weird looking guy with a mask covering most of his face and a weird looking book in his hand."Who are you?"

"Hatake Kakashi. Sasuke's bodyguard." The masked man introduced himself as he extended his hand toward Naruto for a shake which the blond hesitantly accepted.

"Why would he need a bodyguard?" Naruto asked.

"It's common since he's the prince."

There was a long pause between them. Even Kakashi managed to read a few pages of his book before facing Naruto's outburst. "He's the prince?! Prince of the Land of Thunder?!"

"The Land of Storm."

"That! He's the – Geez. No wonder this place is insanely huge." Naruto laughed. He did expect Sasuke to be some kind of a wealthy merchant or something. But a prince?! At the most secluded part of his head.

Kakashi chukled and smiled behind his mask. "You didn't recognize him just by knowing his name?"

"Uh…N-no." Naruto was not sure whether it was because he had somehow lost his memory or he was actually had no clue who Uchiha Sasuke was.

Kakashi patted Naruto's head gently. "Well then. May I escort you to the palace's training ground?"

'Training ground?' The blond thought to himself. Whatever and where ever it was, he just nodded and beamed up to the taller male. At least he could be sure that he would not be lost.

After long minutes of casual stroll, they both were finally at the training ground. There were soldiers sparring with one another. Naruto was amazed by the smooth moves they showed.

"Naruto."

The blond jumped slightly when he heard someone other than Sasuke and Kakashi called him. He turned and found himself staring into pale eyes that made eerie feeling crept into him. The other's hair was black and down just below his shoulder. He gulped when he sensed the intimidating aura from the unknown male. How did he know his name? Then his eyes caught on Sasuke's figure that was leaning against the tree not so far from where he was. 'Sasuke must've told him.'

"I'm Hyuuga Neji and I'm challenging you into a one-to-one fight."

Naruto's eyes bulged and he paled. Fight?! Who on the right mind would fight someone he barely knew? He slowly backed away. "I – I don't – " But he was cut off when a painful jolt stung his hand and some parts of his back. He looked back and saw Kakashi with gray chakra around his both hands and produced a translucent huge semi-circle around him and Neji with an incredible height. He shakily looked back at Neji.

The Hyuuga smirked as he swiftly spread his fingers; water came out from the ground and swirled around his figure and it slowly forming into a dragon-shaped liquid. "Not that you have a choice."

**TBC**

**Kindly REVIEW guys and let me know whether you like it or not! If you have some ideas that you want me to consider in adding in this fic, please let me know!**

**Cyan: Neeejiiiiiiiiiiii~! *love love***

**Tama: Geez. You'll scare him away with your fangirl squeal. Stop it! *covers Cyan's mouth* **


	3. What Is Hidden

**Yo! I'm so sorry for the late update. I was pretty much occupied so, yeah. Anyway, I worked hard for this chapter. I seriously hope you'll like it. Have mercy on me, please! **

**Warning: AU-Demons, slight OOC-ness, smut, Mpreg, Yaoi**

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING! Just the plots~**

"Talking"

'Speaking to oneself'

_Flashback or dreaming_

SPECIAL THANKS TO : **crzyanimemom**, **Melyway**, **yanaucii** **(**I'll leave your imagination to answer your questions :P And I hope this chapter of Neji-Naru battle will satisfy you. *peace***)**, **Guest (**Thank you so much for your suggestion!**)**, **SilverHunter**, **Kunoichi of the Moonlit Night (**I guess this chapter will fulfill your expectations? XD**)**, **otakumi (**I'll have that under consideration. Hahaha *wink***), Boys-Love-Yaoi (**Well, as expected from Sasu-chan, is it not~? LOL**)**

**Cyan: I'm back, guys! Things came up and had taken most of my time! So, new chap is up! What are you waiting for? READ!**

**Tama: I guess this chapter is the longest…so far. ENJOY!**

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CHAPTER THREE : WHAT IS HIDDEN

Adrenaline rushed through his veins, sweat threatened to soak him right at the instant and his heart was thumping wildly that it hurt to breathe. He was clueless. He had no idea what was happening, what was about to happen – aside from the fact that this Neji guy was about to beat the crap out of him – like would he even be alive and why had Sasuke not say a word into this matter? Was this his idea or it was fun to watch him when he looked like nothing but a frightened deer waiting for its predator to claw it.

Naruto glanced over to Sasuke, rather disappointed when he could not meet the other's eyes for answer to his tons of questions since Sasuke was standing beneath a tree and the shade covered most of his face. He bit his lower lip, and then looked at Kakashi who had an 'I-am-really-sorry-about-this' look.

"You should pay attention to your opponent." Neji's voice distracted the blond from his goo of inner debate. He started to stepped closer, real slow, with the water dragon around his figure; red eyes sharply bore into Naruto's confused and frightened cerulean, roaring.

Liking the previous distance between them, Naruto took a step back for each time Neji approached closer. "Why are you doing this?" He asked. The male noticed Neji's pale eyes drifted toward Sasuke, and for the slightest moment, pale eyes stayed on the other raven before turning back at him.

"Safety. Reassurance. Can't make myself taking things for granted, now can I?" Neji's waater dragon slid off from around his body and looked dangerously killing at the blond, slithering on the ground with most of its' upper part perked upward and raised its' body more when it was just a few steps away from Naruto.

"What on earth?!" The blond stumbled backward, jolted when his back bumped against the barrier that Kakashi had made, electric shock abused his nerves. "What safety?! I'm the one who is about to die here, you freak!" He growled aloud and he ran to the other side, only to be stopped by ice spikes, slamming mercilessly into the barrier wall, just a strand of hair away from his face. Naruto's eyes bulged and he momentarily frozen, staring at those spikes that somehow started to dissolve into the barrier wall. He snapped his head toward the other male. "What the fuck?! I could have been killed there!"

"Then, fight." That was the only answer that the blond received.

The water dragon swished its tail into the air and huge water droplets separated from its liquid tail, and then lunged toward the blond, elongated into sharp icy spikes like earlier, mid-way.

Naruto squeaked and his feet rooted to the ground, eyes widely stared at the fast approaching ice spikes.

"Idiot! Get out from the way, damn it!"

Sasuke's voice pulled him out from his trance. As if on cue, his limbs started to get functional again and his brain immediately popped out the next move he seriously needed to keep himself alive. He leapt to the left; gradually fell on the ground with his body dragged painfully due to the force. He groaned as he got up on his one knee with his hands still glued on the ground. He glared at Sasuke, who was now could be seen had emerged from his shady canopy – standing not so far from the battle arena – and was putting on his worried expression but then, simply changed back to his usual stoic mask. Naruto gritted his teeth. If Sasuke was so worried about him, why had not he stopped Neji from doing all of this? He intended to yell at the Uchiha but changed his mind when Neji started talking.

"A coward. I should have known." Neji smirked. "All you do is running away from my attacks. I'll make you a deal. If you win against me, you've got to stay here until your memory comes back. Otherwise, you're out of here and I assure you, Sasuke don't have anything to say into this. It's our bargain."

'So Neji has that power on Sasuke? Bastards.' Naruto stood up, glaring at the smug raven in front of him. "I'm not a coward!" He only growled when Neji snickered to what he had said. Clenching his fists, he confidently stepped a few steps toward the other, eyes never leaving the pale ones. "Let's see who the coward is."

Neji accepted that as a challenge. His water dragon slithered toward him and turned into mere liquid, and it swirled around the blond with such a speed that Naruto's hair started to sway furiously. Its' width increased, slowly surrounded Naruto from head to toe. "I'm waiting for your failure."

Naruto's breathing hitched when the swirling water around him started to turn into ice in the inside, growing spikes at every inch each second passed. He started to shiver when the temperature was too cold for his warm skin, he breathed out air from his mouth and chilly steam escaped between his lips. He needed to think fast. The diameter of the space he was in only decreased and he would surely to be ripped into small shreds. He did not know where he came from and from there, he had no idea what kind of chakra he had.

But he needed to get out from here. Naruto inhaled a shaky breath and closed his eyes, feeling the temperature dropped more than it already started to freeze him. He tried to search for the source of his chakra in him, focusing. He felt some kind of a warm energy forming in his stomach. The energy started to get stronger and spread throughout his veins, getting hotter under his skin. Surely, he opened his eyes and focused on his chakra toward his entire limbs. He felt it, really felt it.

"Give up and I'll spare you." Neji said. He knew Naruto did not have any chance anymore. Not with what he was sure of the blond's 'lack of ability' to put up with him. But then, he frowned. He sensed it; Naruto's chakra. It was hot…fury.

Then, in his spinning ice, there was a faint orange light which was getting brighter each second. His eyes started to crack and some part of it melted. He too, felt the heat. _Heat_. A conclusion popped inside of his head; _Land of Fire_. Before he could say anything more into that, his eyes widened slightly when his ice around Naruto blasted. Drawing his hand out, Neji shielded himself with a thick ice in front of him. He let his shield melted when he was sure the ice shreds were no harm to him anymore and set his eyes on Naruto, who was heaving in front of him; red-brick chakra surrounded his body, blazing.

"I see you're from the Fire. Who would've thought?" It was not a question neither a statement. Somehow, it managed to mask his shock with the unexpected fact about the mysterious blond and he could see Sasuke too was the same as him from the corner of his eyes. Land of Fire was known for the people's 'secretive' nature, including their own Lord and Lady and it was a rare occurrence to have the Fires in other Lands. Not that no Fires ever set foot outside from their own Land, but as he said, it was rare. They pretty much had everything in Fire.

"Great. First information about myself." Naruto said dryly. The fact Neji almost killed him _twice_ did not make him felt relieved that he was actually alive. In fact, he was thinking of a little pay back. "Are you giving up now, Neji? Or maybe I could go easy on you."

The raven scoffed. "It's funny you said that when you're the one who is at the losing side."

"You sounded so sure. Want to bet?"

"I don't have to bet on anything since we both know how this will end."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Let's see about that."

Neji smirked. He stomped his right foot on the ground, and then long and wide ice spike shot out from it right in front of his feet and followed by other ice spikes toward Naruto. The blond, however, managed to leapt away from the spot he was standing at the brief second with quite a speed which he was quite impressed with himself.

Looking at Neji with such a look that sent a message to the other male to brace himself for his counter attack, the ground shook and it cracked then gravity sucked the soil under, and two cravens were holed at each side of Naruto. Then, deep animalistic grumble could be heard, echoing inside both cravens Hell knew how deep they were.

The pale-eyed raven clenched his fists, making himself ready for whatever would be coming out from there. His breath almost caught in his lungs when two huge foxes launched out from the cravens; 10 feet height, long and thick fangs bared, red-brick fur that almost looked like the felines were made of fire and bottomless black eyes that ensured anyone in their way fatal. Their grumbles turned to growls when their sharp eyes bore into him.

The foxes lunged toward him at the same time with their claws visible to Neji's eyes. Their speed startled him for the slightest moment but not for long. He drew out one of his feet and spun himself around and water tornado formed around him, sending the beasts distance away. Neji halted, but it seemed the foxes were stubborn, just like the blond, and this time they growled more furiously, somehow agitated by his previous action toward them. They once again jumped toward him however this time; they disappeared mid-air, and reappeared above him at two different angles. Neji hunched down on one knee and a semi-circular water barrier which a few seconds later frozen into ice barriers and the moment the foxes clawed onto it, sharp spikes drew out from every inch and slashed their powerful limbs deeply. Loud roars from the beasts shook the ground and trees nearby, detaching themselves off from the barrier and the barrier melted.

Neji looked at them with a smug pity. But then, he frowned when he saw the bleeding, deep lashes on their furred bodies slowly healing, and by the time the wounds were no more visible, it was their turn to look mockingly at the raven. Pale eyes darted from the beasts to the blond. Naruto locked his gaze with Neji's, silently telling the raven that this fight did not go as what Neji predicted it would turn out to be. Neji gritted his teeth and Naruto turned his cerulean eyes to his foxes, to what Neji assumed giving orders through their connected minds. As he half expected, the foxes' sharp eyes once again sent a shudder through his body when they looked at him. He readied himself for the attack, more likely to defend himself as his mind quickly mapped out strategies.

He must not lose. His sole purpose of fighting Sasuke's 'guest' was only to prove one thing; was the blond dangerous enough to Sasuke. As much as he hated to admit, Sasuke was his friend and the only person – who was not related by blood – that he cared. They had been friends since the earliest of his memory could remember and it was indeed the first time for Sasuke to just let someone, not to mention an unknown, mysterious, the-one-he-found-in-a-damn-alley person, to stay in the castle with no guards have their eyes on the blond and no hesitation or doubts about his background. Yes, Naruto lost his memory. But there was possibility that he LIED. Maybe it was part of the plan? Play innocent, gain Sasuke's trust and kill him to take over the Storm. And yes, Itachi was the Lord. But Sasuke was his sanity, his world and his only family. With Sasuke dead, it was easy to corrupt Itachi mentally and physically.

Neji would not let that happen. If Sasuke would not be cautious, he would do it in his stead.

He narrowed his eyes toward the growling beasts, challenging. He stomped one foot on the ground, and the ground cracked around him to what it shaped like huge snow-flake. White-blue light flashed out from the gap and water came out from it and shape into a creature and slowly turned into translucent ice, that made Naruto wondered what it really was; 11 feet tall, three heads, long and twisted sharp horns on each side, long necks but with one body which looked similar to the raven's water dragon earlier only this time, the tail was longer and spikier.

"Your pets need playmate of their own sizes." Neji said, smirking.

The ice creature let out long, challenging roars to the foxes, which were replied with equally furious ones. The three headed opened their mouths and a bluish light formed, and then water sprayed from between their widely stretched mouths toward the alerted foxes. Naruto's beasts barely dodged the attack and the water hit them which immediately froze their legs with ice. They growled toward the other and struggled to release themselves from the icy grips. Their fur started to somehow glow, more likely to aflame, and their pitch eyes turned red. The ice around their legs started to melt and the three headed did not waste any seconds and attacked them, growing thick, sharp ice spikes on the tail and whipped it to the blazing foxes' direction.

Faster, the beasts leapt off, somewhat it seemed like they just disappeared with their lightning speed, and reappeared at both sides of the ice monster. They bore their claws and slashed two heads of their opponent, sending it off forward to the wall barrier, snarling as they watched it convulsed. Neji's beast roared angrily and once again whipped their tail toward the two foxes, and the attack was once again dodged.

The flaming beasts stood close with each other, growling and their fur started to change color; from red-brick to orange and at the edge of each strand, the color turned to darker shade of red. Their bodies surrounded by faint gold light which slowly increased by size and blanketed them in one translucent golden sphere that kept on expanding and what it looked like at the edge of exploding. The three headed beast growled loudly and they once again stretched open their wide mouths and bluish light formed. Blasting at the same time, the heads were pushed back slightly to the pressure and three blast of rays met mid-way, forming a sphere and it enlarged each passing second.

Both Naruto and Neji stepped back as far as they could from their beasts. Neji was once again sheltered by his barrier and Naruto was not much different; encircled by a reddish-orange sphere. Then, an explosion was heard; very loud and very clear. The earth grumbled, birds flew away in panic and trees threatened to tumble. The blond and the raven were sent flying backwards, shields were long shattered by the pressure and their bodies went into spasms violently when their back met the barrier wall. Ice shreds spattered about and sank into the barrier wall, dissolving later on. Steam and smoke filled up the area, avoiding one to see the other but groans of pain could still reach each other's ears.

Sasuke was shocked, stunned and everything that could describe how hard for him to believe what had been displayed before his eyes. Naruto was not a random demon and no one could stand Neji's attacks for that long, if that person was not a trained one. Naruto…who was he? He rushed toward the battle zone but was immediately put a stop by Kakashi's grip on his arm.

"It's not over yet."

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A male demon absent-mindedly stared at the casement in front of him, watching nothing in particular as his mind was fogged with much important things than wasting his limited time for the bewilderment outside. His tall and lean figure strode back and fro in the vast chamber with nothing but calm and collective demeanor. A small smirk plastered on his pale-skinned face and his eyes gleamed in the faintly-lit room. His thoughts were zeroed to only one thing; _the blond_, _his _blond who was not supposed to flee away from him. It was nothing near from what he had planned. He was outraged at first but then, this was where the fun truly began. Playing chase like cat and mouse was highly amusing, especially when it was no doubt that the mouse would be devoured by the cat, slowly. He snapped back to reality when a soft knock crashed his ears. With his usual apathetic face, his eyes glanced at the door lazily when it creaked open.

"The first strikes were done. Our armies are already in position. We are waiting for your next order, my Lord. And your carriage is ready for you."

His smirk slightly widened at that and he nodded, not feeling like rushing things out. He wanted to lay back and watch how far things go before he put the final stop. After a day of rest at this quite luxury guest lodging, he was more than ready to continue his journey to pay someone a friendly visit. With his blond escaped, it made the whole plan a lot better and exciting. He was indeed silently bubbled with glee to grasp the world, to rule, to devour. "He's there."

The other for a moment just looked at him, clearly puzzled by his sudden statement before hesitantly said. "My Lord?"

It was not like him to repeat himself and this situation would always bring him to kill his underlings. But right now, he felt like being 'un-him' for a while. "Naruto's there." It was short but full with warning that alerted the other to not make him repeat himself ever again.

"You mean, your –"

"Indeed."

"My Lord, I was infromed that the seal you cast on him starts to wear off."

"Hn."

"Then, my Lord, will our plan change?" The other asked.

"No. Get back to your position. Failure is prohibited."

Nodding, the other bowed to him and reached for the door but then stopped. "My humble apologize to ask you this, my Lord but who is Naruto with now?" The other knew he should not ask this but what he heard from the Lord's source, he just needed to make sure of it. Not that he was in the place to do so, but curiosity plagued him.

The pale demon gave the other his cold glare, however, still complied to answer. "An Uchiha." He said briefly with a small tug on his lips, a perfectly masked cruelty that was eager to be unleashed.

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Inuzuka Kiba folded his arms across his chest, frowning. Something was definitely off. He could feel it, no, he could even _smell _it in the air. He stared at the scrolls spread out in front of him, mentally voiced that he might burn holes into them. The tent he was in swayed slightly to the blowing wind, making him more tensed for some unknown reason. His focus was shred away from the scrolls to the approaching figure.

"Inuzuka-san. The armies have retreated."

Kiba raised an eyebrow. Now that…that was utterly…weird and suspicious. He frowned deeper than before. Something was up. He needed to alarm Itachi for this. Then he remembered that the Lord was nowhere near and he had given the responsibility to Sasuke instead. So, Kiba needed to alarm Sasuke. He just had this bad feeling about this. He looked at the other and nodded, smiling to hide his chaotic mind. "Wrap up. We're going back." He said and he rolled the scrolls, putting them in a safe chest an retreated himself out from the tent.

Outside the tent was a messed up scene; injured men everywhere, though not severe, but wounded nonetheless and Kiba did not like it even a bit. He hated to get clueless in a situation and he was officially, clueless.

Two days ago, everything seemed to be just fine. Maybe fine was an understatement. He was heading for the border between Toreiru Forest and Shinda District with his little troop, no more than 20 soldiers to join the guards that were in charge in patrolling along the border for the Storm's security. He was ordered by Lord Itachi immediately after he received words from the kingdom's messenger about several unknown attacks at the border.

When he arrived at the border, some patrolling guards were injured; scratches, cuts, bruises…but nothing deep or life-threatening. It was as if, whoever attacked them were just fooling around but Kiba took nothing at that. Striking the Land's guarding troop was nothing near to 'fooling around' or 'playing pranks'. His curiosity got the best of him when the guarding members had no idea what their attackers look like. Only one thing they knew about these mysterious people; pitch black.

A few hours of discussing with the head of the team, Kiba took the decision to leave and report back to the castle about the whole…situation that he was sure the Lord should not be worried about. However, fate seemed like playing with him and his boys; a very small yet alerting explosions were there, in a not too far from the border but still in a concerning range. Kiba and his troop scattered into the Toreiru Forest, ordering the guarding team to have their positions in check.

Like he said, fate was playing with them. There was no one in sight. Even his perfectly trained tracking dog – Akamaru – could not nose out any presence of anyone. To make things much weirder that already had, there were no explosion signs at the place which they heard where the explosions came from. Kiba ordered his boys to run a search in 500 meters circumference from the spot they were at. Still nothing. What were those they heard back then? That was insane.

Kiba was really, really, really mentally frustrated.

As the First Officer of Security, he would never give up. He just knew something was wrong and if they retreated, he got the feeling that they gave what those people wanted – whoever they were – but still he could not figure out what they wanted and what was the rational in the situation. So, he commanded his troop to set a camp there while he pulled out strategies from his already overworked brain as well as getting ready for any possibilities of another explosions or attack.

Night came, which Kiba assumed already pass midnight looking by how dead the inked sky was and he was more than ready to hit the sack but he could not chase away the feeling of being watched. Every single move his boys and he made, he felt they were being monitored and that did not go unnoticed by the others. Lying on his back with an arm over his eyes, he slept quite well since the day had been exhausting for him, especially his brain, though he made sure not to get too indulged in his slumber. It was then his sensitive ears caught on the sound of someone entering his tent. His body jerked ever so slightly to the surprise, and then slowly turned to his side, peeking toward the tent's cloth door between his half-way opened eyes; the cloth door was still the way it was as he last left it before going to sleep.

He frowned. He could not feel any presence in his tent yet he was sure someone was with him at the moment. Then he abruptly sat up and turned around when he heard someone walked behind him in a fast motion. No one. His frustration built up more than he already felt. He clenched his fists and he heard Akamaru growled outside, barking. By then he knew, something _was _wrong. Putting his guards up, he stayed silent as he closed his eyes, focusing on his hearing ability. There. He spun around as he stuck out his leg at the, side-kicking the other's rear and in a swift motion he straddled the other, locking the legs under his firmly as his hands restrained the wrists from moving at the side. It was dark in his tent, so he could not really see what the other looked like but he knew it was a man; a strong one at that judging by the force he needed to use on him just to make him stay put.

Then his cloth door was opened hastily. "Inuzuka-san! We're being ambushed!" A panic voice informed him.

Kiba's eyes adjusted to the sudden intrusion of light from the bonfire they had outside his tent and when his gaze was focused, he froze. Beneath him, the person he was pinning was black. Black, as in his – its – whole figure was black. No clothes but was not naked, no hair, no eyes, no mouth, no ears, no nothing…except for the stretched mouth that was shaped into a very, very, very wide grin. The Inuzuka's grips loosened and he heard an eerie shrill coming out from the…thing under him, staring wide eyed at its jaw that dropped down to the chest. He covered his ears from the deafening shrill, and then the Pitch – that was what he called it – melted into black, sticky goo and seeped into the ground.

What the Hell was that?

One of his boys earlier just stood there, petrified. And Kiba's confusion was answered by his more confused eyes when he met his gaze with him. Then, they jerked when they heard loud noises from outside. Without wasting any more second, Kiba rushed out from his tent with the other and was greeted by a scene where his troop was fighting with more Pitches. Those black creatures were immortal in some ways. They could not be killed, far away from getting affected by his boys' attacks.

What was going on?

Questions assaulted his mind since the sudden ambush until to this day. No answers appeared. Kiba jumped slightly when a hand held his shoulder and he realized he was too far away in his thoughts. He turned around and met with one of his boys' concerned look.

"Is everything alright, Inuzuka-san." The other asked.

Kiba just nodded. "Stay with the patrol team, just in case. I'll head for the castle."

"But what if you're attacked?"

"Not a sweat. The border is what important right now."

"Anything you say, Inuzuka-san. You're the boss."

Kiba watched the other walked away to inform them the slight change of plan and he, had to do what he had to do and immediate.

He needed to talk to Sasuke. Now.

Grabbing the reign of his horse, he pulled himself up and straddle the horse's back and dashed off from the camp site. His horse galloped through the wind, passing the trees in the Toreiru Forest. The fast wind combed his brown hair, soothingly, but that did not calm his racing heart. From what he had experienced in the past two days with the unknowns, and lots of them, the Land of Storm was in danger if nothing was done for the matter.

When he reached the castle gate, without waiting any moment, he sprinted inside and jumped down from his horse when it halted. He walked pass the front yard and smiled at the gardener that greeted him, exchanging hugs and brief chats. Then he heard an explosion; a very loud one. They stumbled when the ground started to shake and he lost balance, followed by the gardener.

"Shit. What the hell was that?" Kiba cursed. He was highly positive that the explosion came from the direction of the training ground. He paled. Was the castle being ambush like his camp site had two days ago? Was this why the uneasy feeling he felt? Abruptly, he stood up and rushed toward the training ground. Steady breath turned to pants and sweat began to roll down his forehead and temple.

What greeted him at the training ground were soldiers on the ground, a battle barrier that he recognized so well made by Kakashi and Kakashi himself who was holding onto Sasuke's arm. He sighed heavily in relief that his negative thoughts were just giving him a heart attack and none of them actually happened. He walked over the two closer and caught on the last bit of Kakashi's words – "It's not over yet." – and turned his curious gaze toward the battle barrier. The inside seemed to be blurred by smoke and steam which he concluded that the earlier explosion was the cause of it and had been 'inhaled' by the barrier wall, giving the outside spectators a better and clear view of what was inside.

Kiba's eyes were casted upon a disheveled blond hair and tanned skin.

His breath hitched.

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Naruto groaned as he rubbed the back of his head to ease the throb due to the impact with the barrier wall. His body was still tensed from the electric shock it suffered earlier and his butt was sore from the hard hit to the ground. He looked to the side, squinted his eyes when the air was too foggy for him to get a pellucid view. He only could see figures and slight glimpse of the faces, raising an eyebrow as he saw an unknown face of a brown haired male with similar upside-down triangle marks under his eyes near Kakashi and Sasuke.

A groan from Neji startled Naruto and he knew it was not the time to wonder who the unknown person might be. The hazy condition limited his eye sight and it would be no good considering how dangerous Neji was and how he might took advantage of the situation. Tearing off his stare from the three, he wandered his eyes wildly around, trying to find where his opponent was. Luckily for him, the air started to clear and his vision was transpicuous. The blond put on guards as he pushed himself up on one knee, wobbling slightly but his two feet managed to stable him. However, there was no Neji in sight. Naruto glowered. He skeptically walked around, very slow…very carefully as if one step he took would drown in into the bottomless pit.

"Hey, loser." Neji's voice called out for him too near to his ear and he turned around. Neji was not there where he was supposed to be.

And then Naruto's ankles were gripped and he jolted. He darted his eyes downward and saw two hands grabbed his ankles from the ground but it seemed somewhat…watery? He trembled slightly when his mind flashed the images of his dream from the earlier morning. _Blood, pain, death. _The hands started to wander upward to his thighs and gave him strong squeezes that rolled out a yelp from his mouth. Then the hands moved upward, sliding on his inner thighs and a head popped out from the ground; Neji. Naruto's eyes widened and he was not sure what he should felt or how he should react from this…sudden change of…attack. He felt even more uneasy when Neji started smirking to his squirm beneath his unexpected touch. Neji slipped one of his arms behind Naruto's knees and pulled, making the blond fell backward.

Naruto yelped loudly and he shut his eyes tightly, waiting for yet another impact of the day to abuse his body, but none came. In fact, when his back hit into what he positively thought it was the ground, a splash sounded. His eyes opened in shock when his wrists were brought upward and were pinned there. He looked at who the hell was responsible for that – though his logic mind screamed Neji, but hey, just to make sure – and locked gaze with a pair of pale eyes above him. Then he felt someone straddled his lap and his jaw almost dropped when it was…Neji who did that.

'W-Wait…there are two of him?' Naruto mentally freaked out.

Neji leaned forward with his hands at both his Naruto's sides, inching their faces closer. "Tell me who you are."

"I-I don't know! I only know 'Naruto' which happens to be my damn name and the newest fact that I'm Fire Holder which tells me that I'm from the Land of Fire." Naruto was pissed. Everyone asked him the same thing and he seriously did not have the answer to their curiosity! Even he was clueless as them.

The raven expression hardened. He lifted one hand and grabbed a fistful of the blond hair, yanking it hard enough for the male under him groaned. "You're not supposed to be here. What is your intention? To kill Sasuke? To take over the Land? What do you want?"

"Listen here you bastard. The only thing I want is for you to let me go, damn it!"

"You sound so innocent yet I have a hard time believing that you're harmless. It won't be too much if I say you're faking your amnesia, would it?"

Natuto stopped struggling and gaped at Neji. "Why the Hell do I want to do that?! For Hell's sake, Neji! I don't have ANY idea who I REALLY am, okay?! Just believe me already!"

Neji narrowed his eyes and pressed his chest onto Naruto's and he leaned in closer to the blond's ear, brushing his cheek slightly on the other's. "Defeat me and I'll consider in believing you." And with that, the other Neji that was gripping his wrists let him hold go and sank into the ground and the real Neji – he roughly guessed – burst and soaked Naruto.

Instantly, Naruto stood up and shivered slightly as he still felt Neji's lingering touch on him. He caught on Neji's presence at the opposite side of the barrier, observing the way the raven drew out both of his hands to each side and water came out from underground at both direction in the same time, snaking Neji's arms. Seeing that as coming attack from the other, Naruto focused his chakra to surround his body for guarding him from the strike while he thought of something to make a counter attack.

The Hyuuga pushed his hands forward to Naruto's direction and the water around his arms bombarded the blond from head to toe. Neji smirked.

Naruto was having a hard time to breathe with the water all over his body, especially his face, yet he couldn't move anywhere since he was pushed up by the pressure to the barrier wall. Electric shock combined with water did nothing good to Naruto but increased the pain of the convulsion instead. The attack was not only drowning him but also pained him by the sharp ice shreds in the water, slicing his limbs, torn his shirt in random places. He bit a painful growl when his deep wounds were tortured by the electrifying water. He was out of air. His chest was tight and his heart was starting to pound achingly against his ribcage. He needed air to breathe. He felt his energy was drained and limbs stopped struggling to be set free.

Just when he thought it was the last of him, the attack stopped and he found himself dropping to the ground. He once again groaned when his nerves stimulated the pain and he shakily got on all four. Heavily, he opened his eyes and stared at the ground for a moment to adjust his blurred vision. Then, something caught his attention; the droplets of that that were dripping from every angle of his body were reddish-orange in color. He swore the water that attacked him earlier was crystal blue! "W-What the –?"

"That's your chakra. The water I used to charge you earlier was Mizu o Kurosu. It washes out every drop of your chakra from your body anytime it made contact with your skin and as long as you're soaked with it, your chakra will keep on spilling until you can't lift a finger, or perhaps dead." Neji explained smugly. The smirk that graced his lips only got wider. "I can't believe you make me use the Mizu o Kurosu. You really are something, Naruto."

The blond tsk-ed. He tried to stand up on his feet, shaking so violently and much to his dismay; he fell down on his knees, panting hard. He felt weak and his chakra kept on dripping out from his pores. His vision became clouded and then, everything went black.

Naruto felt himself falling into a bottomless hole, not reaching the ground in any nearest second. His breath became ragged and unsteady. Sweat trickled down his face as he felt a little bit too hot in where ever he was now. Voices started to smudge his mind.

"_I vow to protect him and the generations after him."_

"_I vow to protect him and the generations after him."_

"_I vow to protect him and the generations after him."_

"Who are you?" Naruto croaked with his eyes still heavily closed like tons of weigh on his eyelids. He knew he was still falling. He somehow knew too that it would not stop. However, his eyes flattered open when he felt himself landed softly on a cold ground. He sat up and looked around; everything was dark, only a narrow trail could be seen and was the only way that he felt safe to step on. It felt like déjà vu. How this reminded him of the dream that left him frightened. But right now, it was rather the opposite. He felt warm and soothing instead. Slowly, he walked and followed the trail and wondered what was waiting for him at the end. After what he felt like long minutes of walking, he was stopped by a humungous golden door with a nine-tailed fox carving. Hesitantly, he pushed the door open and his eyes were blinded by bright light as his legs subconsciously stepped inside.

The light intensity subsided and he heard the door creaked and slammed closed, jumping slightly. He opened his eyes when someone was stepping closer toward him, shoes echoed throughout the space and was feasted by a blank golden room and a nine-tailed fox looking at him intensely at the middle of the room. Naruto froze and started to think of the best way to escape before the beast maim him however his thought was changed when the fox slowly shifted and transform into a man, wearing a fitted gold tunic under a black coat with a pair of black leather trousers; he had long red hair that reached his waist with bangs sculptured his face perfectly, creamy skin and crimson red eyes. Naruto could not help but to gawk at the person in front of him. "W-Who are you?" He finally managed to ask.

The red head man tugged his lips upward slightly. "I'm Kyuubi."

"Kyuubi? Um, where am I?"

"In yourself."

The blond blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Your soul is leaving you. You're half conscious and half not. You're inside yourself." Kyuubi explained.

"T-Then, why are you here?"

Kyuubi stepped closer toward Naruto until there was a limited gap between them. Rising up his hand, he cupped the blond's tanned cheek and stroked it gently. "I'm part of you, Naruto."

Naruto unconsciously leaned in to the warm touch and locked his eyes with the crimson ones. "So you can tell me what I forget?"

"True."

"Then tell me!"

"No."

Naruto jerked his head away from Kyuubi's touch, baffled by the other's answer. "Why?! I can't remember anything! How am I supposed to get my memories back?!"

"Where's the fun in that?" Kyuubi snickered and then he leaned in and pressed his lips onto Naruto's forehead and the blond closed his eyes when he felt warmth oozed into him, filling him up.

"Live and you'll find out." was the last thing he heard from the mysterious Kyuubi before he opened his eyes once again and met with the familiar grassy ground.

He felt chakra trained inside his veins once again and energy kicked into him once more. His eyes were more focused. The chakra that he felt was like no other. It was much hotter, stronger…untamed. He held himself from falling onto the ground with his both hands when his body felt like burning. He hissed in pain, groaning as he bit his lower lip until it drew blood. His nails dug into the soil and he gritted his teeth when his nails elongated into sharp claws and teeth sharpened into beastly fangs. Something changed about his eyes, he could see it. No, he could see everything clearer…nearer, like the eyes of wild felines. He looked up and bore his gaze into Neji's shocked eyes. Somewhere in there, he could smell that the raven was terrified.

Neji was rooted at the spot. His knees were threatening to buckle and his brain was bargaining with his hands to let them tremble. Naruto was not suppose to be if not alive, unaffected by his Mizu o Kurosu. It was impossible! This was not happening! Naruto was changing. The chakra that flowed inside him was different from the previous one. It was a whole new chakra that was more…merciless. One could never have more than a chakra. It could not be. It was not possible! Naruto's blue eyes were now red…blood red and his cheeks were scarred into a pair of three lines each, blood flowed down from them. His fangs showed and his claws disappeared into the ground and there were three blood red translucent tails on his back. Neji shivered when he heard the other's beastly growl. He stretched his fingers and drew his hands out and rain of ice spikes ambushed Naruto and torn his shirt into pieces and buried into his body, some slashed deeply on the limbs.

Blood pooled beneath Naruto but he did not even flinch from the obvious pain. The spikes were pushed out from his body without him making any effort to pull them out and dropped onto the ground. His severe wounds stopped bleeding and healed. He stood up and straightened his body. Neji saw a mark glowed in black-red on Naruto's stomach; a swirl with ancient demonic letters encircled it. When he stepped one foot on the ground, a little harder, his chakra burst from beneath his foot and sent Neji flying backward and hit the barrier wall until it cracked. He heard Neji gasped loudly and his head was bleeding to the impact.

Naruto walked closer in a steady pace, not too rush, not too slow; just the pace that sent Neji to the edge. He saw Neji attacked him with water tornados that ringed him. He smirked. His chakra swirled around his body before enlarging and then, cut the tornados and they turned into droplets of water. Naruto fixed his eyes on Neji, who was gritting his teeth. Neji's hands increased by length and narrowed at the edge then after that, part of his hands turned ice. He charged toward Naruto, aiming his iced-hand at the blond's chest but the other put up a shield and Neji tried his best to hold himself from stumbling backward. Not giving up, his stabbed his hand into the soil and elongated it abruptly and he lifted himself up, spinning above as he passed the Naruto's shield and landed right behind the blond. Without waiting any longer, he lifted his hand and turned it into a sharp-edged ice then slit the blond's throat.

It happened too fast and the world turned silent; birds were now voiceless and wind was vanished. Neji stepped back and he eyed his ice-shaped hand that was covered by Naruto's blood. A triumph smirk graced his features and he was about to turn to Kakashi to pull off the battle barrier but halted when a voice laughed softly.

"Man, that tickcled."

Neji turned around, wide eyed when he gaped at Naruto's cut opened throat slowly attaching back and healed. When he looked up to meet Naruto's crimson eyes, his face was punched by Naruto's fist that sent him harshly flying backward and once again, his back made contact with the barrier wall and he was waiting himself to fall down but found his legs and hands were pinned by larva clutch that burnt his limbs painfully to the point he felt his hands and legs would separated from the body. He groaned in utter pain and he gasped audibly with eyes bulged when a chakra arrow lunged toward him but stopped right in the middle of his forehead, only the tip pressed against it, bruising.

"Told you I would go easy on you."

The battle barrier slowly disappeared and Neji fell down on all four, panting hard and slightly trembling. As for Naruto, he felt so drained and worn out he could sleep for months. His eyes unfocused and body began to sway. He saw Sasuke ran up to him then his eyes closed, ready to meet the ground for the umpteenth time for the day but someone wrapped arms around him before he could do so. He could barely opened his eyes but he could still see briefly who was it and much to his surprise, it was not Sasuke.

It was the brown haired male he saw earlier and he had this unexplainable emotion played on his face which Naruto could not help but wondering, before everything was blank.

**TBC**

**How was it guys?! OMG! This sure is longer than I planned it to be. I hope I don't disappoint you much. Hope you drop you REVIEW and tell me what you think and expect for the later chapters. **

**Cyan: AHHH! Kyuubi is so sexy…. *drools***

**Tama: You say that to almost every guy… **

**Cyan: Shut up you.**


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